Dow futures drop over 300 points as bond yields continue to rise

[February 05, 2018]   By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures extended their losses on Monday, with the Dow futures falling over 300 points, as bond yields continued to rise.

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury debt <US10YT=RR> hit a four-year high of 2.885 percent, having jumped almost 7 basis points on Friday.

Rising bond yields means higher borrowing cost for companies and an alternative investment option for traders.

With Friday's rout, Wall Street's three major indexes logged their biggest weekly losses in two years. The S&P 500 and the Dow saw their worst weeks since early January 2016 while the Nasdaq recorded its worst week since early Feb 2016.

Friday's U.S. payrolls report showed wages growing at their fastest pace in more than eight years, fuelling concerns that both inflation and interest rates would rise faster than expected.

Currently, traders are pricing in three rate hikes for 2018, but if the economy and corporate earnings continue to improve, the chances of a fourth increase becomes more likely.

Jerome Powell will be sworn in as the new Federal Reserve Chair on Monday, taking over from Janet Yellen.

The CBOE Volatility Index <.VIX>, the most widely followed barometer of expected near-term volatility for the S&P 500 Index, was trading at 18.62, its highest since November 2016.

At 7:12 a.m. ET (1212 GMT), Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 309 points, or 1.22 percent, with 76,519 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 20.75 points, or 0.75 percent, with 328,542 contracts traded.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 61 points, or 0.9 percent, on volume of 73,229 contracts.

ISM's non-manufacturing PMI data for January is expected to show a slightly higher reading of 56.3 compared to 55.9 in December. The data expected at 10 a.m. ET.

Analysts now see fourth-quarter earnings growth of 13.6 percent for the S&P 500, up from 12 percent on January 1.

Half of the index's companies have reported so far and 78 percent of them have beaten Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Walt Disney <DIS.N>, General Motors <GM.N> and Tesla <TSLA.O> will report quarterly results this week.

Among stocks, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> fell 9.5 percent in premarket trading after the Fed imposed new regulatory restrictions over compliance issues.

Qualcomm <QCOM.O> rose 4.4 percent after Broadcom <AVGO.O> raised its offer to buy the chipmaker. Broadcom was down 1 percent.

Bristol-Myers Squibb <BMY.N> was up 2.2 percent after the drugmaker said a late-stage trial for a lung cancer drug met its main goal.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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